The St. Pete Times is reporting that defenseman Kevin Quick and forward Chris Lawrence were recalled to Norfolk in a statement confirmed by Lightning GM Brian Lawton. Quick and Lawrence had been assigned to the now defunct Augusta Lynx.

Lawton went on to say that the Bolts are in discussions with "several" ECHL teams who want Quick and Lawrence, and that when a destination is determined, the players perhaps along with goalie Riku Helenius, will be moved together and not to different teams.

Ramo got back in after sitting the last game and living under the threat of a Riku Helenius recall, so his play in regulation and overtime was a reasonably encouraging response. He's still struggling in shootouts, but he and the Admirals did manage to get eight shooters deep into the extra session. Baby steps, I suppose. In any event, I hope this is the beginning of a run similar to what Ramo did in Tampa late last season when John Tortorella publicly embarassed Karri. I suspect Admirals GM Mike Butters would be more than happy if Ramo, to paraphrase the immortal Vaclav Prospal, "stuck it up his butt" and started a hot streak here. Knock on wood.

Lightning prospects Dana Tyrell and Dustin Tokarski are two of 38 players invited by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League to Canada's National Junior selection camp from Dec.11-15 at the SBP Arena in Ottawa, Ont., and the Robert-Guertin Arena in Gatineau, Que.

Tyrell is currently 12th in the WHL in scoring with 18 goals and 17 assists in 27 games. The Prince George captain is versatile enough to play on all four lines and plays a high-character physical game, which could help his chances of making the team.

Tokarski is second in the entire CHL in shutouts (tie-3), is second in save percentage (.937) to the OHL's Mike Murphy of Bellville [Carolina], and is fourth in the CHL in goals against average (2.02, second in WHL). He backstopped the Spokane Chiefs to the 2008 WHL and Memorial Cup championships, earning Memorial Cup MVP honors in the process. He also led his Prince Albert Mintos to the prestigious Telus Cup national midget championship two years ago with a 61 save performance in triple overtime in the final game.

The last Lightning draftee to play for Team Canada's WJC squad was Brad Richards in 2000. Steven Stamkos played for the Canadians last year but was not yet drafted by the Lightning. Stamkos is eligible to play again this year, but it is highly unlikely the rookie will leave the NHL to do so.

Steve Downie was named the third star of the game. He was the the fourth most impressive prospect the Lightning had in the game, to me, but ok. I get it. He's a former Flyer.

I was really impressed with the two callups, particularly Smolenak. I wish there had been more 5-on-5 play in the game so he could have played more. I really liked the energy he had on a line with Artyukhin before R2 got nicked on a boarding major from Scotty Upshall in the first period. Obviously, you can see the flaw in Smolenak's game: he's not a speed merchant. But, you know, there was no fear in the young man. Sometimes these callups get into these games and they act like they're afraid to get a puckmark on their tape because maybe NHL tape is expensive, or something. Not Smolenak. First shift he gets the puck down low and makes a power move to get a shot off from the angle. Third or fourth shift he fights Aaron Asham. Third period he's out there battling down low again and getting off a hard shot from the angle to try to tie up the game. And he gets rewarded with the assist on the tying goal as one of his long slappers generates a rebound for Downie to send the game to OT. That's probably the best NHL debut we've seen from a player since Paul Ranger came up a few games into 2005-2006. Honestly, if he keeps playing like that, one of these old fogies is out of a job.

Paul Szczechura, very quietly, played some big minutes in this game both at even strength and on the penalty kill. And, you know, that's high praise if you're an NHL rookie in your first game and the coach puts you out there on the PK. It shows the kind of intelligence Szczechura has, and I'm not surprised Tocchet instantly started leaning on the young man. He's just one of those guys who is a coach's dream. I don't think his scoring really projects to the NHL level, and you can see he's still maybe a quarter step slow, but he can outthink 95% of the players he's going up against, and that means he'll have a solid NHL career.

Bottom line, the Norfolk kids did good tonight, and I loved the energy the new blood brought to the table. And, you know, there's other kids down there knocking on the door like Brandon Segal,Matt Smaby, and Blair Jones. I think it's time to get some of the AARP members out of Tampa and mix some youth and enthusiasm into the team, especially on the forward lines.

Steve Downie had 1 goal and was +1 with 4 penalty minutes, 2 shots, and 2 hits in 10:43.

Paul Szczechura had 3 shots and was 30% on draws in 15:16.

Radek Smolenak had an assist and was +1 with a fighting major, and a game high 6 shots on goal in 9:45. And he gets a gold star from me.

PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that the Augusta Lynx have suspended operations, effective immediately and voluntarily relinquished their membership back to the League. The move comes as a result of the Augusta ownership group being unable to continue to operate in 2008-09.

"We are very disappointed for our fans, league partners and the other member teams of the ECHL," said ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna. "The ECHL would like to thank the Lynx fans for all of their support."

Augusta players will immediately become unrestricted free agents.

The league announced that the Augusta at Mississippi on Thursday and the Gwinnett at Charlotte games on Thursday have been cancelled. The league said that work has begun on a revised version of the playing schedule which will be released as soon as possible.

Lightning prospects currently assigned to Augusta, Kevin Quick and Chris Lawrence, of course will not become unrestricted free agents, but will be reassigned by Tampa Bay.

Today the BCHL announced its Coastal Conference all-stars and Lightning prospect Justin Courtnall made the list. Courtnall's father, Geoff, will be coaching the Coastal squad at the January 14 game vs. the Interior Conference.

Courtnall is in his third year in the BCHL, and is tied for the team lead in scoring with fellow all-star Evan Pighin. Both were participants in the Lightning's prospect camp this past summer. Pighin is a free agent.

Courtnall is averaging a career-best 1.1 points per game as he has accumulated nine goals and 25 assists for 34 points in 31 games. He is second on his club in penalty minutes with 53. Last year he was 19-32-51 in 60 games with Victoria. The year previous he split between Victoria and Burnaby, scoring five goals and 14 points in 48 games.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled forwards Radek Smolenak and Paul Szczechura from the Norfolk Admirals, it was announced today by Lightning Executive Vice President & General Manager Brian Lawton. It is the first NHL call-up for both players.

Smolenak, a 6-foot-3, 183-pound left wing from Prague, Czech Republic, has appeared in all 23 games for Norfolk this season, scoring eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points. He leads Norfolk and is tied for third in the American Hockey League with 93 penalty minutes. He is the only player among the top 50 of both penalty minutes and scoring in the AHL. Smolenak also has three power play and one game-winning goal to go along with a +3 rating. Smolenak was drafted in the third round (73rd overall) by the Lighnting in 2005.

Szczechura, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound center, has also appeared in all 23 games for Norfolk this season, leading the team with 11 goals, 13 assists and 24 points. Szczechura is tied for ninth in the AHL in scoring and is tied for tenth in the league in goals. His +7 rating is best among Admirals forwards and he also has one power play, one shorthanded and one game-winning goal. Szczechura signed a two-year deal with the Lightning on April 24. Prior to that, he played under an AHL contract as a rookie in 2007-08, scoring 14 goals and 12 assists with the Admirals after being acquired from the Iowa Stars on January 15. Despite appearing in only 24 games with Norfolk last season, Szczechura led the team in scoring by a rookie and tied for the overall team lead in game-winning goals with three. He netted points in his first ten games with the Admirals â€“ the longest scoring streak ever by a Norfolk rookie and tied for the fourth longest streak overall.